How much acid do i need for a fallow skin? And  does it have to be left for months?

Cheers mate

howed ya go? gona try some sheep skins next day or two

After seeing the results on this thread I thought I'd give it a go. I tried it first on a old skin I had in the freezer. That turned out alright, so I gave it another go with a nice Summer Sika Skin. Here's the pics.


I had this old drum lying around which was handy. Finding the battery acid was a mission so I gave Hydrochloric acid a go. I got it from the local concrete place, $25 for 2 litres. Plain salt from the supermarket (I just used iodised)




I scored a pallet off a local business, they were happy to let me have one.







I came out pretty good.
I soaked it in a mixture of half a cup of acid, kilo of salt and about 15 litres of water. I let it sit for a couple of weeks, then got it out and scaped any excess flesh off with an old paint scraper. Then back in the tub with another 1/2 cup of acid and bag of salt. I let it sit for a couple more weeks, then pulled it out and rinsed it in a bucket of water. Then I nailed it up onto the pallet. It took about 2 days to dry. After it was dry I gave it a rub with neatsfoot oil, to soften it up.   It definately is worthwhile taking some extra care in skinning the deer in the first place as it will make the job much easier down the track.
Probably cost less than $10 in materials and a few hours time. Next misson will be a Red skin.

I tried to keep the tail on but it got hair slip after the first soak, so I had to cut it off. Has anyone got any tips on how to keep the tail on?

I have done about half a dozen skins like this over the past few months and I reckon they turn out great. The skin side is pure white and once buffed comes up feeling similar to felt. Although reasonably soft and supple, they aren't quite up to scratch with a skin I paid to have tanned a while back and I was wondering whether its just a case of them needing more working, or they haven't been tanned the same way so will never be identical?
I have read and heard from a taxidermist that this "tanning" solution is actually only a pickle, and does not truly "tan" the hide but preserves it?

Does anyone know how professional tanneries do it? I know that skins are put through a pickle first but then what solution is used? And can this be done at home?

Cheers.

Thank you.
Taking junior wallaby shooting in may. He wants a skin for his room.